Wind in the Great Lake State

Michigan’s industrial base, tuned to supporting the needs of the automotive industry, has all the expertise and capacity to handle the manufacturing needs of the wind energy industry. In fact, according to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation federal studies rank Michigan among the top four states in industrial capacity to develop and manufacture wind energy systems.

AWS Truewind has developed wind energy resource maps for the Energy Office and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory with financial support from the U.S. Department of Energy. Wind energy resource maps are estimates of wind resources and are based primarily upon computer modeling. They are intended to be suggestive of areas within Michigan that may be suitable for wind generators. Values represented for any geographic location may differ from actual conditions at the same location. Although the maps are believed to represent an accurate overall picture of the wind energy resource, estimates at any location should be confirmed by measurement before purchase or installation of any wind power systems.

Check out these maps and more information on wind energy in Michigan here

 

Machine shop leans out operations, sets target on wind

Weak economies hit the manufacturing industry hard, especially in Michigan, but machine shops with the flexibility to accommodate change, diversify their customer bases and run lean, efficient operations are well-positioned to survive.

Merrill Tool, a 40-year-old grinding, milling, and turning shop in Merrill, Mich., followed a strategy of diversification and lean operations even before the economy began to decline. The shop boasts of flexibility to handle parts some for wind turbines, parts that weigh from an ounce to more than 50 tons, and from an inch to more than 40 ft. As part of the 400-employee Merrill Technologies Group, the company is sister to Merrill Fabricators, Merrill Engineering & Integration, and Merrill Aviation.

Merrill Tool President Bob Yackel has steered a course to diversify his customer base so that no industry segment constitutes more than 20% of the company’s sales, focusing on aerospace/defense, machinery-build, automotive, heavy equipment, and oil field as key markets, while rapidly expanding Merrill’s work in emerging wind and solar energy.

As a two-shift contract shop with a high proportion of large-part work, Merrill constantly fine tunes its machining strategies and capabilities to make margins on part lots as small as one. Tuning up its capacity for an increase in oil-field work, Merrill purchased a MAG RT 1600 boring mill off the floor at IMTS 2006. This increase continued with a second similar boring mill, two vertical turning centers with 2 m tables and, most recently, a horizontal machining center with twin 1250 mm pallets – all acquired from MAG between late ’06 and early ’09 at a total investment of about $7 million.

The first rotary-table horizontal boring mill immediately replaced three retrofitted boring mills, and in doing so increased part processing capacity and reduced machining time by as much as 34%. “We purchased our first MAG boring mill to handle new work involving some large valves,” said Merille Tool Presient Bob Yackel.

Merrill added a second RT 1600 contouring rotary table for a new wind energy customer, a goring part of Merrill’s industry mix. Manufacturing of wind energy parts is about 10%  of the shop’s business, where it was zero percent just five years ago. “We’d like to see wind energy grow to be about 20% of our overall business which is our maximum target for any industry we serve,” said Yackel. “Just like in the stock market, we consider diversification a key strategy to long-term health of the company.”

As work in wind energy continued to increase, Merrill added a MAG HMC 1250 horizontal machining center with a 110-mm live spindle that was immediately put to work on large turbine component parts. The HMC 1250 Series is engineered for high-precision, high-productivity, large-part machining with 1,250 x 1,600-mm pallets and a maximum 3,000 mm (118 in) work zone swing range, 2,050 mm (81 in) work height capacity and 7000 kg (15,400 lb) work load. A standard 360,000 position contouring table enables precision 4-axis machining of a variety of part geometries.

Merrill Tool & Machine
merrilltool.com

Lake Michigan wind farm sounds good but….

Scandia Wind Offshore was formed in response to the attributes of West Michigan for offshore wind farm development. Scandia is pitching a plan to conduct studies to develop a 500 MW wind farm in Lake Michigan, outside of Muskegon and Ottawa counties. A 150-MW onshore wind farm at the Wastewater Management System in Muskegon County is also under consideration. The Aegir Project is proposed based on years of offshore wind-farm developments with its Norwegian partner, Havgul Clean Energy AS. Technical analysis is underway as well as an information exchange with the local communities, local government officials, and the State of Michigan. Some community groups, however, are objecting.

The Aegir Project, if built, will harvest the outstanding wind resource on Lake Michigan to produce clean, renewable energy while addressing the current need for job creation in Michigan.

Aegir Project officials say Muskegon and Ottawa counties present the following set of circumstances in terms of supporting the case for large-scale offshore wind farm development:

• Grid access: the Ludington Pumped Storage Power Plant is north of the proposed wind farm. The Aegir Project could provide off-peak power to the plant—fill its reservoir by wind power—while the plant would continue to generate and sell its power during peak consumption hours. Aegir could, in effect, recharge this giant “battery” and combine two renewable energy resources to deliver baseload power. Also, the 345 kV transmission lines on shore provide a substantial backbone to move power to major population centers. The B.C. Cobb coal plant in Muskegon could serve as a point of interconnection for the Aegir Project.
• Wind resource: The area is well positioned to harness the strong prevailing South/Southwest winds, winds that normally register only in states such as North Dakota and Texas. Officials say wind speeds range from 8 to 9 m/s (about 20 mph) at 100-m up. These are an excellent, clean resource to be farmed for substantial power production.
• Proximity to major load centers: The efficiencies associated with locating near two major load centers (areas of significant energy consumption, i.e., Detroit and Chicago) materially contribute to the economic viability of a wind farm such as the Aegir Project. Producing wind power for delivery to major population centers near the generation source could result in lower energy prices.
• Water depths in Lake Michigan outside of Muskegon and Ottawa Counties: Technology advances in wind turbine foundations indicate wind turbines can be sited in water depths up to 80 m.

The developer says the Aegir Project serve as a catalyst to enhance Michigan’s prospects of developing such a manufacturing cluster— an opportunity to gain market share in a growing industry.

Scandia Wind Offshore LLC

www.scandiawind.com

Good wind for windpower along the Michigan coast

The Department of Energy’s Wind Program and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have published a wind resource map for the state of Michigan. The resource map shows wind speed estimates at 50 and 80-m above ground and depicts the resource that could be used for utility-scale wind development.

As a renewable resource, wind is classified according to wind-power classes, which are based on typical wind speeds. These classes range from Class 1 (the lowest) to Class 7 (the highest). In general, at 50 m, wind power Class 4 or higher is useful for generating wind power with large turbines. Class 4 and above are considered good resources. Particular locations in the Class 3 areas could have higher wind-power class at 80 meters than shown on the 50-meter map because of possible high wind shear. Given the advances in technology, a number of locations in the Class 3 areas may suitable for utility-scale wind development.

The map shows that Michigan has wind resources consistent with utility-scale production. Onshore utility-scale wind resources in Michigan are concentrated along the immediate shores of the Great Lakes (especially Lakes Michigan and Superior) and on offshore islands. The Great Lakes have good-to-outstanding wind resource. A large area of Class 3 resource is located northeast of Saginaw on the “thumb” of the state. Specific locations in Class 3 areas could have higher wind power class values at 80 m than shown on the 50-m map because of high wind shear. Given the advances in wind energy technology, a number of locations in Class 3 areas may be suitable for utility-scale wind development.
The Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth has more information about the validated wind maps. The Web site also lists wind maps at 30 m, 70 m, and 100 m.

NREL
nrel.gov

Turbines power town hall

Five Windspire wind-and-solar hybrid turbines were installed in August 2010 on a hill behind the township hall in Genoa, Michigan. The 30-ft tall turbines are each rated for 1.2 kW, a total of 6 kW. System experts expect its 9.5 kW total output to provide about 20% of the hall’s electrical needs.

On a windy or sunny day when the township hall is not in use, the energy conversion may generate more power than the hall needs. In these circumstances power will be fed back to the electrical grid. A net meter will spin backwards paying the township for energy produced. At an average wind speed of 12 mph —high for this part of the state— one turbine will produce 2000 kWh per year, which is 25% of the energy usage for an average home. Turbine designers say the useful life for these systems in more than 20 years.

The Michigan Department of Energy, Labor, and Economic Growth Bureau of Energy Systems awarded the township an Energy Efficiency Block Grant for $94,919, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The township received $8,800 in personnel and contractual services from the project.

The Windspire wind turbine is manufactured in Manistee, Michigan with domestic materials. The rotors are made of recycled aircraft-grade extruded aluminum. Contractor’s Building Supply Inc., a local company, completed the installation.

Windspire

www.windspireenergy.com

Tower manufacturer breaks ground on new factory

Ventower’s plant construction will complete late 2010. The company plans on building up to 250 towers per year and will begin deliveries by mid 2011.

Ventower Industries has broken ground on its 115,000 ft2, state of the art, wind-tower manufacturing facility. Earlier this year, the company’s design, the Ventower, won an advanced-energy manufacturing tax credit under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The company was one of 12 to received support from Michigan’s congressional delegation. The company says it is a full service fabricator and supplier of industrial scale, wind turbine towers. Focused on original equipment manufacturers, the company will provide wind towers to wind plants throughout the Great Lakes Region using readily accessible waterborne, rail, and truck transport options.